The Cogitating Ceviché Week in Review (25-42)
Discussion via NotebookLM
Editorial Summary
This week’s lineup invited readers into a layered dance between memory, agency, revelation, and narrative. Calista begins by diagnosing collective spiritual amnesia. Conrad pushes us into the paradoxical loops of control and adaptation, then confronts us with the age when prophecy gets algorithmic. Gio offers both a translated classic and a serialized fiction—reminders that the old stories still speak. The week ends ambivalently, asking whether forgetting is simple rupture or renegotiation.
Articles
When a Nation Forgets: Why Memory Is a Spiritual Crisis
Calista Freiheit • October 20, 2025Argues national forgetting is not mere political failure but a wound of spirit, urging us to re‑root memory in faith and collective identity.
Reciprocal Determinism in Your Kitchen: How Adaptive Systems Train You While You Train Them
Conrad Hannon • October 21, 2025Applies Bandura’s idea of reciprocal determinism to everyday environments, showing how human and machine co‑shape each other.
The Christmas Tree And The Wedding
Gio Marron • October 22, 2025A translation and reflection on Dostoyevsky’s short piece, exploring symbolism, sacrifice, and human expectancy.
Tobias Smollett (1721–1771): The Surgeon of Satire
Conrad T Hannon • October 22, 2025A literary‑historical profile of Smollett, celebrating how satire operates as cultural surgery.
The Age of the Amateur Prophet: How Algorithms Replaced Revelation
Conrad Hannon • October 24, 2025Examines how algorithmic “prophecies” now issue from cold logic rather than spirit, and what that shift means for authority and insight.
The Chimney Sweep’s Tale – PART FIVE: “The Hunt”
Gio Marron • October 25, 2025The latest installment in a Gothic/poetic serial, pushing forward themes of pursuit, danger, and hidden meaning.
Quote of the Week
“Memory is not a passive archive; it is a covenant. To forget is to break communion.”— When a Nation Forgets, Calista Freiheit
Questions for Reflection
When a Nation Forgets
* In what ways does memory function as a spiritual anchor in your own life or community?
* Can a society choose not to remember without suffering spiritual consequences?
* Does reconstructing historical memory always lead to unity, or can it also inflame divisions?
Reciprocal Determinism in Your Kitchen
* What roles do your daily environments play in shaping your decisions or habits?
* When have you knowingly “trained” a system (algorithm, routine, culture) that then began influencing you back?
* Does this mutual shaping undermine or enhance human autonomy?
The Christmas Tree And The Wedding
* What symbolic tensions do you observe in Dostoyevsky’s imagery (tree, wedding, gift)?
* How might this story speak to modern readers about expectation and sacrifice?
* Which character or moment struck you as most haunting or luminous—and why?
Tobias Smollett: The Surgeon of Satire
* How does Smollett’s approach to satire compare with modern satirists?
* In what ways is satire surgery—diagnostic, incisive, possibly painful?
* What contemporary “ills” might merit a satirical scalpel rather than blunt denunciation?
The Age of the Amateur Prophet
* How do algorithmic predictions resemble—or differ from—traditional prophetic voice?
* Is there room for human discernment in a world mediated by predictive systems?
* What might a new “hermeneutics of algorithms” look like—how do we interpret algorithmic pronouncements?
The Chimney Sweep’s Tale – “The Hunt”
* What shadows or motifs recur in this installment, and how do they deepen the narrative?
* How does suspense function here—not only as plot device, but as moral or spiritual tension?
* Which character’s perspective do you find yourself sympathizing with—even reluctantly—and why?
Additional Resources
* The Politics of Memory by Jens Rüsen
* Cognition in the Wild by Edwin Hutchins
* On Heroes, Hero-Worship, & The Heroic in History by Thomas Carlyle
* Memory’s Nation by Maya Latty
* Algorithms to Live By by Brian Christian & Tom Griffiths
Calls to Action
* From Calista: Revisit your family, community, or church’s memorial practices. How might they be deepened or refreshed?
* From Conrad: In one place this week—your work, your phone, your home—notice how you and technology are shaping each other. Journal it.
* From Gio: Share a story—old or new—with someone this week. Listen to how meaning shifts in retelling.
* General Call: Engage memory not merely as historical record, but as a living conversation. Choose one neglected memory and give it attention: write, speak, meditate, teach.
Thank you for your time today. Until next time, stay gruntled, curious, and God Bless.
